Kissing in the Rain & Duel Monsters: A Tango & a Waltz
by wordsmithie
Summary: When Mai "loses" the duel to Téa, everyone assumes it's for Yugi, and Mai is content to let everyone believe that. But when Téa visits Mai's hotel room that evening to thank her, Mai finds herself feeling grateful, too. Valentine's Day oneshot.


**Hi guys. With Valentine's Day approaching I was struck by the idea to do some YGO drabbles to mark the occasion. I took my inspiration from the mini youtube series "Kissing in the Rain" by Shipwrecked Comedy, directed by the wonderful Yulin Kuang. It's basically short clips of popular literary characters kissing in the rain, filmed and acted beautifully.**

**As the week goes on I'll be posting other drabbles, leading all the way up to V Day, so keep an eye out for them. **

**Enjoy :)**

**Word count: 1, 545**

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**\- Kissing in the Rain &amp; Duel Monsters -**

**\- A Tango &amp; a Waltz -**

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If there was one thing that Téa Gardner was, it was stubborn. She was also loyal, but that was so thoroughly, infuriatingly wound up with the stubbornness that it was difficult to see the good of the former.

Difficult indeed to see the good when the fool had challenged her – _her_, a top world-class duelist – to a pathetic show that surely had everyone within a twenty-mile radius cringing. Mai certainly had been.

The amount of faith that the girl had in Yugi, the amount of affection that drove her actions – it was perplexing. To say the least. That kind of driving force was not a common feature in Mai's world.

How did it feel, to know that someone had that much faith in you, to have that much faith in someone? How would it feel – and she tried to stop the thought, but it slipped through, anyway – to have those eyes flashing so for her?

Mai shifted on the bench, and scoffed, tossing her hair. No, down that curious path lay risks. She'd already had a taste of it, had so willingly given up those hard-earned star-chips. What had possessed her to do it?

She stood up, the movement more agitated than she would've liked to admit, quickly blinking away any images of fiery blue eyes and defiant chins that dared to penetrate her mind. She bent over the balcony railing, surveying the dark green forest that surrounded Duelist Castle.

Well, it didn't matter. She was in. _That _was the only thing that needed to matter.

Her left hand lifted of its own volition, stroking her duelist glove, fingers running over the star-chips securely embedded there. She wouldn't let any other silly distractions sway her.

A secret-soft drizzle had started to form, the tops of the trees shimmering silver with the splatter of rain drops. She tilted her head back and inhaled, the earthy essence bringing with it a strong sense of nostalgia that made her gut ache in a way that she knew nothing would alleviate it for a long while.

It was bizarre, she knew, this longing for a childhood that had been one only in name. Perhaps it was the ignorance and naiveté of childhood that the idiot in her longed for. To be able to see the world with a clear, un-skewed lens again.

Maybe. Maybe that was it.

Or maybe she was just feeling maudlin.

"Mai?"

She whirled, the leap of her heart threatening to send her over the balcony.

It was Téa , framed by the abundantly spilling light from Mai's room.

"I'm sorry, your door was unlocked," she said.

"And you think that's an invitation?" Annoyance at being scared made her tone harsher than she intended.

"No, I'm sorry. I knocked, but there was no answer."

Mai eyed the girl standing at the mouth of the balcony, shivering in her shorts and t-shirt combination.

"Isn't it bedtime for schoolgirls like you?"

She saw the eyes flash, felt her pulse spike at the sight, before the girl composed herself.

"Look." Téa paused, her eyes running over the expanse of dampening forest around them, before finally talking over the rain's million whispers. "I just – I wanted to thank you."

Mai straightened. "Thank me?"

Téa nodded, stepping forward, a single, careless step that made the balcony feel too small.

"Why?" Mai tried not to sound like an animal caught in headlights.

"Well, you know," she said, shrugging, taking another step closer.

"No, I don't," Mai snapped, alarmed at the way her thoughts jumbled with the girl being at such close proximity to her. The eyes were too startling, too clear, too direct. Just too.

"What you did back there," Téa said, interrupting Mai's antagonising inner monologue. And she took another step forward.

Jeez, what was with the girl, was she unable to stay still while she talked? Mai slid further along the railing, moving down the balcony.

"What I did back there," she repeated.

"Yeah," Téa nodded, and this time, thank all the saints, the girl stayed put. "What you did for Yugi."

"Right." Mai grabbed at the deception that the girl handed so easily to her. "For Yugi." Repetition wasn't the most imaginative of responses, but at least it helped keep up the farce.

"Yeah, I know you didn't have to let me win."

And Mai waited, breathless, as that smile she'd jealously watched bestowed on a precious few, bloomed for her now. Téa seemed to be waiting for a response, but Mai's mind was turning up nothing, was doing nothing.

Téa laughed quietly, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't know what I was thinking, challenging you like that." She shook her head, looking out with a bewildered smile at the grey-green expanse that stretched before them. "Must've been crazy," she muttered to the rain. Her left arm was bathed in the light from the room, the other one in darkness, and surely getting cold by now. Mai's fingers practically itched.

"Must've been brave," Mai muttered.

Téa turned to look at her. "What?"

Mai took a step forward, when shouldn't she have been moving in the other direction?

"Are you . . .," Téa frowned. "Are you making fun of me?" The skin between her brows furrowed, and it wasn't until Mai was lowering her hand that she realized she'd tried to smooth it out.

"No," she breathed. "Not making fun." She seemed to only be capable of managing small sentences.

Téa had frozen, even her breathing seemed to have stopped, her eyes fixed on Mai.

This time Mai knew when her hand lifted, her fingers tracing the curve of the girl's nose, outlining her cheeks, thumb hovering over the girl's lips.

"Mai?" Téa's breath was hot against her thumb.

"Mm?"

"What are you doing?"

Mai shook her head, her fingers lowering to ghost over the girl's jaw, down and back, curving around the girl's neck.

"Are you going to kiss me?" Téa asked, her eyes wide.

"I'm . . .," Mai blinked. What was she doing?

"I – um, I wouldn't mind." A flush spread across Téa's cheeks.

The words pulled a smile onto Mai's face. She pulled the girl closer, heard her gasp, felt the girl's body pressed so satisfyingly against her. She dipped her mouth closer to the girl's.

"Always so direct," she chided, before slotting her mouth over Téa's.

She had intended to be gentle, but Téa had a way of derailing her intentions, of stealing whatever control she prided herself on, foiling any plans she'd constructed.

It was savage and greedy, an embarrassingly open-mouthed, panting, behind-the-school-cafeteria kiss that only threatened to snow-ball.

But thankfully the girl pried them apart with a palm, staring up at Mai as she tried to regain some breath.

She was pressed against the railing, Mai's body - aflame and short-circuiting - keeping her there. Mai licked her lips and gripped the railing harder, feeling the blissfully cool raindrops splatter her knuckles.

Téa's cheeks were flushed – Mai was certain she could feel the heat curling from them. Her hair was tousled, though Mai couldn't recall doing it. The girl was eying her as greedily as Mai was her. She realized that this was quickly becoming her new favorite position: smack-dab in the middle of Téa Gardner's attention.

"You aren't as tall without heels," Téa whispered.

Mai's lips crooked in a smile. "Still taller than you," she whispered back.

"Annoyingly so," Téa said, her hands coming to grip Mai's shoulders and pulling her down so that their lips met once more, this time in a kiss that was more tempered, more waltz than tango.

Mai's arms moved immediately, encircling the girl's waist, pulling them closer, greedy for more of the small sounds coming from Téa's throat. Her lips coasted over the girl's throat, her tongue trying to find the source of those sounds.

She felt the girl's hands cup her face, pull it up for another kiss, softer, sweeter than the one Mai had intended, before her lips moved away. Mai rested her forehead against the girl's, their breaths heavy between them.

"That . . .," Téa swallowed, panting. "That was meant to be a goodnight kiss."

"Oh." Mai let out a huff of laughter. "Right." She brushed aside the girl's fringe, and bent down to place a kiss on the damp skin underneath.

"Well, good night, Miss Gardner." She lifted her hands off the railing and stepped back.

Téa 's mouth lifted up in a smile, a small, shy smile that made her lips screw up in one corner.

Mai looked away to her right, squinting at the far off trees so she wouldn't be tempted to close the distance and tease out another kiss.

"Good night," Téa replied, her voice as soft as the rain.

Mai glanced at her, before looking away again, waiting for her to leave as quickly as she'd come.

The hands on her shoulders were unexpected, as was the kiss planted lightning-quick against her cheek.

"Sleep well," she said, before ducking her head and leaving.

Mai waited a moment, made sure the girl had had time to leave, before walking over to the railing and sticking her head out, grateful for every little, blissful drop of rain that found its way to her face.

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